“Our [experts’] answers […] suggest that the severity of the opioid crisis is breaking down longstanding divisions between public health officials and law enforcement,” stated that New York Times article, “with over two-thirds of our panel including increased funding for law enforcement or international interdiction efforts.” Might these answers have been different if the panel…
In March 2019, the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs will convene in Vienna to evaluate progress on countering the drug problem across the world. When officials sit down for discussions, they should not shy away from asking the tough questions. Current approaches to drug control in Asia overwhelmingly criminalise people already on the margins of…
In the past five to ten years, and in particular in the lead up to the UNGASS, civil society has increased in strength and visibility in the global drug policy debate. This is an important achievement because civil society voices have traditionally not been valued within drug policy debates, and it has been a fight…
The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday [Feb. 20th, 2019] that the Constitution places limits on the ability of states and localities to take and keep cash, cars, houses and other private property used to commit crimes. The practice, known as civil forfeiture, is a popular way to raise revenue and is easily abused, and it…
Health officials and drug policy experts across Canada have called for decriminalization for years, but the federal government won’t budge. Now, B.C.’s provincial health officer is putting together a report on how the province can de facto decriminalize. Drug decriminalization = removing criminal penalties for minor drug use/possession. Person might be steered towards treatment or…
In fact, what is becoming increasingly clear is that international drug prohibition is actually a major driver of global poverty. “There is a self-perpetuating cycle of poverty. People get involved in drugs to afford the basic essentials of life, because of a lack of other options. Then they get arrested and their life chances are…
The Iowa legislation seems to be the first of its kind [and] when it comes to broader reforms, a handful of prominent lawmakers and political organizations have begun at least talking about legalization of other drugs besides cannabis. One of his new bills, if enacted, would allow state regulators to approve the reclassification of psilocybin,…
The WHO is proposing to the United Nations that cannabis be deleted from schedule IV, and Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is currently listed separately as scientists had not identified THC as the psychoactive component of cannabis in 1961, be downgraded to schedule I in light of mounting evidence of the potential for medicinal and therapeutic value.…
The Justice Department has sued to stop the country’s first heroin injection site from opening in Philadelphia, saying the facility is prohibited by federal law, despite cries from public health advocates that the project will prevent overdose deaths and limit HIV infections. The Justice Department is asking a federal judge to rule that Safehouse —…
The 50-year war on drugs has been a disaster. It was obviously doomed from the first years of prohibition because it was based on the misconception that it would stop people using drugs. Our drug laws are not based on scientific evidence but rather political expediency, paranoia and ignorance. After 50 years of failure and…
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